The Penguins dropped their second straight game, losing Saturday night to the St. Louis Blues 2-1 at the Scottrade Center.
Despite getting James Neal and Beau Bennett back in the lineup, the Penguins struggled to generate offense. St. Louis held the Penguins to 20 shots including five in the third period. The lone goal came on the power play in the second period, extending Pittsburgh’s even strength scoring drought to the last six periods.
Both teams had strong play from their goaltenders, particularly in the first period. Jaroslav Halak denied Sidney Crosby on a breakaway. Marc-Andre Fleury made a nifty last-second toe save on a puck that was bouncing through traffic on its way to the net.
The Blues got on the board first, 2:52 into the second period. Maxim Lapierre gathered the puck along the half wall and wired a perfect pass between two Penguin players, connecting with Ryan Reaves as he cut to the net. Reaves deflected the puck past Fleury.
The Penguins answered with a power play goal at the 8:06 mark in the second from Jussi Jokinen. James Neal sent a pass to Evgeni Malkin who paused before finding Jokinen on the backdoor for the tap in.
The Blues were able to break the 1-1 tie on Kevin Shattenkirk’s first goal of the season with a little over nine minutes remaining in the game. Shattenkirk’s shot from the right point caught Fleury off guard and the puck slithered behind him.
Pittsburgh was unable to answer as the Blues continued to gum up the defensive zone and frustrate the star players. After going 1-2 on the road, the Penguins return home to face the Flyers on Wednesday.
- Prior to Jokinen’s goal, the Blues had killed sixteen straight power plays.
- Sidney Crosby is scoreless in seven career games against the Blues.
- The Penguins have been held to two goals in two regular season games for the first time since April 2nd-3rd of last season.
Three Stars
- Ryan Reaves
- David Backes
- Vladimir Sobotka
Photo courtesy of NHL.com
